Girls Tell All: Are You Looking For A Bad Boy?

I decided to use the guys-would-never-describe-themselves-as-this term “bad boy” in this column because that seems to be the word the ladies use to describe douchey dudes that they’re interested in. I could be wrong, though. I haven’t spoken to a girl sober in six years, so there’s no telling how out of touch with them I may be.

We’ve all heard that chicks dig the mysterious loner who treats them like shit, but I have never understood 1) why that would be, and 2) if it’s even true.

So I asked our resident females.

Ladies, are you looking for a bad boy?

I wouldn’t necessarily say that I like “bad boys,” but, just like how it is for guys, it can be about the chase. If a guy is too available it can be a turn off. The “bad boys” are the ones who take forever to reply to your text but then send you a snapchat or post a story or do something on social media that you will see. We love that shit. We actually hate it, but it keeps us interested. – Kayla Haby

I think the whole thing about girls liking bad boys is true, but wildly misunderstood. Girls like boys who are kind of jerks to everybody else, but they still want a guy who’s nice to them. It’s the dude version of lady in the streets, freak in the sheets. We want a tough guy in the streets, but a perfect gentleman who wants to go on ice cream dates, give advice to my best friends, tell me I’m pretty, defend me relentlessly, and hang out with my mom…in the sheets? Wait. This metaphor is getting weird. – Veronica Ruckh

I fucking LOVE bad boys. They can potentially come off as more manly. I don’t want to wife up a dude that is just a little bitch, and bad boys are never scared to do whatever it is they want to do. They are bold and carefree creatures. Bad boys are almost always sure of who they are and don’t give a shit what other people think. Total lady boner. – Kellie Stritz

Definitely. Bad boys are everything you wish you could be: reckless, uninhibited, exciting – and that’s really attractive. It’s hard to be someone you’re not, so being with someone unlike you is alluring. – Anonymous

Girls tell all rule #1: Every girl wants what she can’t have. Bad boys are typically the somewhat seemingly unattainable guy that is just looking for a one night stand. Finally getting with a hot badboy can seem like a big accomplishment at the moment, but we typically like bad boys as “fun for now” guys; they aren’t the kind of guy we are trying to date. – Blonde_boozy

I think girls like confidence. And there’s a very fine line between confidence and cockiness. We also sort of like cockiness. Will we fuck a cocky guy? Yes. Will we date him? Maybe. Will we marry him? Could be. Wait. Shit, This isn’t helping. I guess the truth is: yes we like the bad boy. We screw the bad boy. And then the bad boy screws us over and we get with the nice guy. – Rachel Varina

I’ve never really dated a “bad boy” unless you count my loser high school boyfriend. I think some girls like the idea of being the one to turn a “bad” guy into a “good” guy. I would rather date the guy that got an A in biochem. – Premed Donna

What the fuck kind of question is this, Jared? Of course girls liking bad boys is a thing. Every girl likes a bad boy, but for different reasons. Some girls like bad boys because they think they can fix them and make them into respectable guys. I like bad boys because I get to do insanely fun hoodrat shit with them. – Lucky Jo

Oh yeah. But I would also say that the “bad boy” thing goes back to confidence a lot of times. It isn’t so much that girls like the guy who is kind of an asshole, it’s that the guy who is kind of an asshole oftentimes knows what he wants and isn’t timid about going after it. It just so happens that a lot of times what he wants is to get laid, not learn about you as a person or develop a relationship that is anything more than physical. I think there’s a huge myth that is perpetuated by women, especially in television and movies, that it is possible to “fix” the bad boy. The problem is, most bad boys don’t see anything wrong with the way they’re living their lives, and a girl trying to meddle into the groove the dude has going is only going to cause resentment between both parties. – lindeliciousss

I think girls choose bad boys because they want to be the one who changes them. We want them to be mean to everyone else but sweet to us because that means we’re special. We want their parents and friends to notice a softening in his entire being as a direct result of our angelic presence. We want to be the Sandra Dee to their Danny Zuko, without the leather leggings. Do you know how hot those get? – Srat_Bro

What level of bad boy are we talking about here? Like robs convenience stores and has a meth lab in his dorm room? Then no. I’m not looking to be paying bail. Doesn’t text you back and flirts with other girls in front of you? Then yes, because for some idiotic reason we ladies like the challenge of the “is he interested or not?” guy as opposed to the “he’s definitely interested” guy, even though we know that the likelihood of it working out is about 156,164,515 to 1. But I think “bad boy” is a little bit of a misnomer here – “inconsiderate asshole” works a bit better. Whatever you call it, clearly it works because we fall for it every.single.time. – 2NOTbrokegirls

Well, that was pretty definitive. I don’t think it can get any more cut and dry – girls want a bad boy. So, I guess start ignoring girls and making them think you’re not interested in them if you’re interested in them? Because everyone knows the easiest way to win the lottery is to not buy a ticket because you “don’t need the money.”

I found it weird that in the first article in the series, women talked about how they want someone ultra stable, but this gives basically the opposite standpoint from the same people. I found it even stranger that I almost cared about a girl’s opinion for a minute there. Really need to invest on a padlock for that kitchen door.